According to police, one of the men posed as a delivery worker, and entered Watch Standard Jewelry before pistol-whipping the owner and forcing him to open a safe. The second man stood guard in the hallway. The store is located on 47th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and the surrounding area was sealed off as police undertook intensive search efforts late Tuesday afternoon.
Diamond district robbers: Fruitless search
At the time of the robbery there were four employees in the shop, and a fifth worker entered the shop during the raid, disturbing the two men and causing them to flee.
The shop is on the eighth-floor, which complicated search efforts. According to the NYPD, it was not immediately apparent whether the suspects had left the building or were hiding inside. SWAT teams carried out a thorough search without finding the two men.
Workers from other floors of the building were escorted out by police. One man who works on the second floor claimed that police had told everyone to stay in their offices, but “screaming from the SWAT team” made them get out. “I’ve never experienced something like this,” he added.
Diamond district robbers: NYPD’s ongoing investigation
The suspects got away with $2 million in gems and jewelry, but the one of the suspects was not wearing any gloves and police are combing the shop for fingerprints.
Despite the violent assault the owner of the shop was not seriously injured and was taken to the Midtown North Precinct station to be interviewed. The first suspect appeared to be in his 40s, measuring around 6 feet tall, and was wearing a long black trench coat with sunglasses, as well as a black cap. The second suspect was wearing a black zippered hoodie, black pants and black sneakers, and appeared to be in his 30s.
I would urge anyone with any information to contact NYPD and help to catch these two criminals as quickly as possible.
